Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.
In plain words
Reading fills up your mind, talking with others sharpens it, and writing makes your thinking exact.
Where these words come from
- 85% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Essays, 'Of Studies' (final 1625 edition) — one of the most reprinted lines in English prose; Wikiquote sourced section names the essay.
- Essays — 'Of Studies'
- 1625
More from Francis Bacon
See allHistories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtile; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.
Francis BaconProsperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.Francis BaconFor friendship maketh indeed a fair day in the affections, from storm and tempests; but it maketh daylight in the understanding, out of darkness, and confusion of thoughts.Francis BaconFor a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love.Francis BaconTruth is not to be sought in the good fortune of any particular conjuncture of time, which is uncertain, but in the light of nature and experience, which is eternal.Francis BaconRead not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.Francis Bacon
Francis BaconProsperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.Francis BaconFor friendship maketh indeed a fair day in the affections, from storm and tempests; but it maketh daylight in the understanding, out of darkness, and confusion of thoughts.Francis BaconFor a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love.Francis BaconTruth is not to be sought in the good fortune of any particular conjuncture of time, which is uncertain, but in the light of nature and experience, which is eternal.Francis BaconRead not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.Francis BaconMore on stories
A single conversation with a wise man is worth a month's study of books.Chinese proverbFiction is Truth's elder sister.
Rudyard KiplingWhosoever studies works of science must, if he wants to find the truth, transform himself into a critic of everything he reads.
Ibn al-HaythamWe must be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.
Niels BohrYou can't judge a book by its cover.English proverbIn the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.
Sun Tzu
Rudyard KiplingWhosoever studies works of science must, if he wants to find the truth, transform himself into a critic of everything he reads.Ibn al-HaythamWe must be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.Niels BohrYou can't judge a book by its cover.English proverbIn the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.Sun Tzu